Avian influenza is occurring in dairy cows in the United States.People who drink raw milk cannot stop drinking it.

Sales of raw milk appear to be on the rise, despite years of warnings about the health risks of drinking unpasteurized product and outbreaks of avian influenza in dairy cows.

Since March 25, when the avian influenza virus was first identified in U.S. cows, weekly sales of raw milk have increased by 21% to as much as 65% compared to the same period last year, according to market research. Nielsen IQ Company.

This goes against advice from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls raw milk one of the “most dangerous.” foodpeople can consume.

“Raw milk can be contaminated with harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness,” the CDC says on its website.

As of Monday, at least 42 herds in nine states were known to have cows infected with the virus, known as H5N1 type A, federal officials said.

The virus has been detected in high concentrations in raw milk from infected cows. Virus remains have been found in samples of milk sold at grocery stores, but the FDA said pasteurization has been shown to kill the virus, so these products are safe to consume. .

It is not yet known whether live virus can be transmitted to people who consume unheated milk.

But CDC officials warned last week that people who drink raw milk could theoretically become infected if the avian influenza virus comes into contact with receptors in their nose, mouth or throat, or if they inhale the virus into their lungs. There are also concerns that if more people are exposed to the virus, it could mutate and spread more easily between people.

Each state has very different regulations regarding raw milk, with some states allowing retail sales in stores and others only allowing sales on farms. Some states allow so-called cow shares, where you pay for milk from a designated animal, while others allow consumption only by farm owners, employees, or “nonpaying guests.” Some states allow it.

NielsenIQ's numbers include grocery stores and other retail stores. They show that raw dairy products account for only a small portion of total dairy sales. For example, about 4,100 units of raw milk and 43,000 units of raw milk cheese were sold the week of May 5, according to NielsenIQ. This compares with approximately 66.5 million units of pasteurized milk and approximately 62 million units of pasteurized cheese.

Still, testimonials about raw milk are trending on social media sites. And Mark McAfee, owner of Law Farm USA in Fresno, Calif., says he can't keep unsterilized products in stock.

“People are demanding raw milk like crazy,” he said, noting that avian influenza has not been detected in his herd or in California. “Everything the FDA tells customers to do, they do the opposite.”

Rutgers University food science professor Donald Schaffner was surprised by the spike, calling the trend “absolutely surprising.”

“Food safety experts like me just shake our heads,” he says.

From 1998 to 2018, the CDC has recorded more than 200 outbreaks of illnesses linked to raw milk, with more than 2,600 people sickened and more than 225 hospitalized.

Studies have shown that raw milk is much more likely than pasteurized milk to cause illnesses and hospitalizations related to dangerous bacteria such as Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli.

Before the milk standard was adopted in 1924, about 25 percent of foodborne illnesses in the United States were related to dairy consumption, said Alex O'Brien, safety and quality coordinator at the Dairy Research Center. Currently, dairy products account for about 1% of such illnesses, he said.

“I liken drinking raw milk to Russian roulette,” O'Brien said. The more times people ingest it, the more likely they are to get sick, he added.

Despite the risks, approximately 4.4% of U.S. adults (approximately 11 million people) report drinking raw milk at least once a year, and approximately 1% report drinking raw milk weekly, according to a 2022 FDA survey. is answering.

Boni Gilley, 75, of Fresno, has raised her family for generations on raw milk, unpasteurized cream and butter, which she believes is free of additives and “very healthy.” He said this is because he is

Mr Gilley said reports of avian influenza in dairy cows had not made him think twice about drinking raw milk.

“If anything, it's accelerated thinking about raw milk,” she says. One reason for this is that they don't trust government officials.

Matthew Motta, who studies health misinformation at Boston University, said these views are part of a larger problem of distrust of government and rejection of expertise.

“It's not that people are stupid or ignorant or don't know what science is,” he says. “They try to reject it based on partisanship, political ideology, religion, cultural values.”

CDC and FDA officials did not respond to questions about raw milk's growing popularity.

Motta suggested that authorities should push back with social media posts extolling the health benefits of pasteurized milk.

“Communicators need to understand why people consume raw milk and make an effort to meet them where they are,” he says.

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